Chris Brown and the Cowardice of Complicit Media in the Feminist Era

There’s a fine Tomahawk track called God Hates a Coward, from the band’s 2001 self-titled LP, filling my ears as I watch live aerial-view footage of cops surrounding Chris Brown’s house on TV. Yet another assault accusation has been levied against the R&B singer, who bloodied Rihanna with fists on Grammy night 2009, coinciding with the promotion of his latest single.

Isn’t modern marketing wild?

I can’t speak for the deities, but any writer with the integrity of a gnat on the ass of Harvey Levin certainly hates professional cowards in our field, particularly journalistic vermin who promote the work of real-life monsters to further their own careers.

Accountability is real. For all the cultural indignation over Trump’s latest caricature quote, over someone sitting down in protest during a song at a sports event, over how to interrupt a pretty girl wearing headphones, I still get emails from publicists promoting Chris Brown. I still see his music breathlessly pushed by publications – Billboard, CNN, CBS News, People, Vulture, NY Daily News, Complex and virtually every major black music publication in existence. This is repugnantly complicit cowardice, a “money to be made” Gordon Gekko strain of yellow journalism in an era where feminism, gender equality and women’s voices are embraced more wholly than ever before in America. The cognitive dissonance and hypocrisy is staggering.

Having previously made a name for himself copying Michael Jackson dance moves, Brown is infamous for viciously assaulting his then-girlfriend, pop icon Rihanna, and then pleading guilty to it in 2009. He beat the almighty hell out of her, punching her, biting her and choking her unconscious while threatening to kill her. The photo evidence and play-by-play accounts tell a brutal story. On sane terms, this incident should have ended his career.

It didn’t. Three years after beating the shit out of Rihanna on the way to the Grammys, Chris performed at the Grammys. Getting “Songwriter of The Year” awards from BMI this year continues this trend, as does the fact that Brown played FOUR songs at the iHeartRadio Music Awards earlier this year. One of the tracks, Back To Sleep, featured such rapey-hazy lyrics as “Just let me rock, fuck you back to sleep girl / Don’t say a word no (no, don’t you talk).” Call me crazy, but that seems pretty non-consensual to me. Did I mention that he’s the face of Snipes’ Spring/Summer clothing collection?

Brown lost a lucrative deal with Apple Music to purchase the exclusive rights to his upcoming documentary after they learned about his latest alleged assault, but this is not the trend within the music industry. Despite all the controversy and a new arrest, several celebrities and journalists have come to Brown’s defense.

He’s featured on tracks with 50 Cent. Lil Wayne. Ludacris. G-Eazy. Nicki Minaj. Meek Mill. Fucking Rihanna, following a tragic trend of girls who watched their fathers beat their mothers and succumbed to their hardwire programming. The list goes on. And he’s just been nominated for an NAACP image award.

While Vulture proudly promotes a Gloria Steinem interview discussing the subjugation of women, Vulture writer Dee Lockett – a woman – is at the ready to counter with a piece promoting a new Chris Brown track, just a day after reporting on his assault with a deadly weapon. On a woman.

Kamylle Edwards is in the same boat, writing on Revolt that it’s “time to stop making him the villain,” because he’s paid his dues and he’s super talented, you guys. If hack culture-bandwagon bloggers existed in the Ike Turner era, imagine the apologist headlines we’d see…

In July, Billboard’s Adelle Platon was at the ready to deliver Chris Brown’s “heartfelt” and “soothing ballad” following the shooting deaths of Philando Castile & Alton Sterling. Brown was quoted as saying the track is meant for “anybody dealing with injustice or struggle in their lives,” shaping himself as a consoler of the victimized.

Yet in the article, not a single mention appears of the struggles he’s best known for. Meanwhile, legions of young female fans have fetishized his aggression, which Lockett, Edwards and Platon don’t seem to grasp that they’ve normalized and balanced with legitimizing promotion of his work.

Colin Stutz from Billboard breathlessly reports that “Chris Brown released a new song called What Would You Do on Wednesday (Aug. 31) less than 24 hours after being released from jail on charges of assault with a deadly weapon.”

After quoting lyrics that include “What do you do, fighting for your life when no one’s on your side,” the piece mentions that Brown allegedly threatened a woman with a gun.

Priorities first.

USA Today followed suit, promoting his new song while waiting until paragraph three to mention that he “was arrested at his Tarzana, Calif., home Tuesday after a woman claimed he had threatened her with a gun earlier in the day. He was released that night after posting $250,000 bail.”

Black music publications are indefensibly complicit. HipHopDX is reporting his every move with enthusiastic support, while BET has published TEN articles on Brown in the last two days, painting a flattering picture of his life through other people’s songs. His bio page briefly mentions the 2009 assault – by saying he “took a beating in the press” but “has since bounced back.”

That’s not clever irony, that’s a flat-out asshole choice of words. Deliberate in its spineless snark.

Complex takes it further, publishing 13 articles in the same time period (since Aug. 30). They promote his new music in the same breath – hardly surprising from a rag that went shoe shopping with the abusive prick two years ago.

Most of these publications have megaphone-level vocal opinions related to feminism, women’s equality, gender rights and progressive values. It’s everywhere, it’s all-consuming, all while they’re condoning and uplifting the career of a “man” who was tried and convicted – with photo evidence – of beating the ever-living shit out of a woman. An enormous public figure, no less.

Access to RCA’s artist roster, on which Brown exists, means potential access to Taylor Swift, Sia, Britney, Zayn, Miley, Timberlake, Snoop, Kesha, Pink, R. Kelly… the list goes on. For a publication such as Complex or BET, this access is critical to their content, to readership, to their bottom line. In gladhand industry politics, that access is very likely pulled when a member of the team comes under fire.

Brown is a sitting-duck target to the social justice warrior legions, indefensible to the core. How cuckolded are these souls (and their editors) under RCA’s access carrot-on-a-stick that they’ll ignore the facts in favor of more clicks for his shit?

No, he doesn’t have a right to earn a living in the public eye. He gave that up with his fists.

And going with the flow makes you a spineless journalistic disgrace. Without exception. There’s a special kind of turncoat cowardice to be found in the women who promote his work, in an age where every opportunity is given to a woman to embrace the strength of her pen, her publish button, her megaphone to balance the gross injustice of a complicit media. One which can no longer point to an oppressive gender for perpetuating the limelight of this disgusting human being.

Greed and short-sighted self-interest are the culprit. Ignorance has taken over. Accountability is how we take the power back.

Johnny Firecloud's been kickin' names and takin' ass since his first interview in 2001 with A Perfect Circle, 6 years before starting AQ with Kevin Cogill. He also spent ten years as music editor/senior writer at CraveOnline.

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11 Comments

Carly says:September 3, 2016 at 1:19 PM

Thank you for writing this, seriously. Sometimes I feel like I am going crazy living in a society where we KNOW what he did. It’s undeniable. And still he gets everything handed to him on a silver platter. It’s disgusting. I know this article isn’t going to singlehandedly change anything, but as a long time reader it means a lot to me that you would even bother putting this out there.

I agree with this piece, but it surprises me that you can complain about other sites promoting the work of men with long histories of domestic violence given how much publicity you give to Nick Oliveri.

Even after reporting on his arrest in 2011 (in an article that you wrote, Johnny), which was not his first offence, you continue to promote his new music.

In the first article following his arrest, you refer to an incident in which a SWAT team had to be called as “an argument with his girlfriend got slightly out of hand” here, and push your own interview with him.

I have never promoted Oliveri’s music, except to mention his inclusion in a new band one time. I have never interviewed Oliveri. You’re cherry-picking and lying. That makes you something of a trolling asshole who’s grasping for straws.

As for the article you refer to, this is a relevant quote from it: “Even more disturbingly, Nick has battled a negative reputation as a violent aggressor towards women over the years. In a 2004 interview with BBC’s Radio 1, QOTSA frontman Joshua Homme and lifelong friend to the bassist explained that Oliveri was let go from the band for similar reasons.”

well, yeah, i interviewed nick for this site. but i think if anything, looking back, i stand by the way that interview was done and i’d like to think it strengthens antiquiet’s credibility here. i confronted him directly about the abuse. and the main point of johnny’s piece, at least as i took it, isn’t exactly ‘fuck chris brown, don’t talk about him or talk to him.’ it blasted journalists for giving him a pass, ignoring his crimes and shit. attacking people who have been deemed fair game but letting chris brown slide to not rock any precious boats. well, there aren’t too many artist collectives we’d hate to alienate more than the qotsa family. but we’ll give them the same scrutiny we’d give chris brown if they pull some heinous shit. we’ll turn sacred cows to steak.

Wait a minute, I’m missing the part where this article does *not* express (in a don’t-make-eye-contact-talk-out-the-side-of-the-neck sense) ‘fuck chris brown, don’t talk about him or to him’. All I see is a dead horse getting another “2009 Chris Brown Beating”, somebody get PETA on the phone.
I don’t think I’m alone is stating that it “should” be over…but it seems the more petulant of us desire to keep the disdain very much alive. Instead of the constant droning about what was done and the obvious exclusion and voluntary blindness to all factors (not saying Brown was justified and right, just making that clear), agreed upon rectification of the base infraction that just keeeeeeeps getting tabbed, why not just straight up and flat out offer a viable solution that will please everyone. SOmething more suitable for the dam near a decade later crowd. In all honesty, treadmill tears when rallying with fading momentum is a real sign of cowardice. People have moved on, the journalism brand mentioned in this article has a job to do and they do it. I don’t remember any shortage of journalists demonizing Brown back then or to be honest, 2-3 years after the fact…so please…why should they continue the crusade up until now. Giving people what they want or reporting as is without radical bias is as important as opinion pieces that are as far from sugar coated as possible…but resurrecting a zombified subject and plugging SEO tags to further a portfolio…then offering a “fresh” perspective on the witch hunt and spotlight methodology, championing the “no one should get away” theme….bravo (slow clap) At least this site has another article under it’s belt I suppose.

James Brown. Sean Penn. Josh Brolin. Charlie Sheen. Woody Allen. Terry Richardson. The media has a way of giving a pass to men for decades. All these men (outside of the dead, multiple accused and awful to women abusing James Brown) still have careers. The problem isn’t this article chose to focus on Chris Brown and his fuckery. Its that its a missed opportunity to call out ALL of it. There’s plenty of other working celebrities that get a pass for domestic abuse for reasons that are beyond me and are not called out half as much Chris Brown or at all. I believe that’s the problem folks have an issue with. I read the whole piece for just a sheer mention of any other celeb that shouldnt be working in this business other than Chris Brown. Yes, that incident should have ended Chris Brown career but IMO to isolate it just to Chris is weak sauce. Sean Penn shouldn’t have a career; two time Oscar winner. Josh Brolin; also a wife beater, still respected, still works. Terry Richardson; accused of sexual assault on par with Bill Cosby and accused of awful shitty behavior to women just as bad him too. Pass. Still shoots covers. Woody fucking, ‘not only fucking my daughter, I married her and also accused of molesting my other children, still getting Oscars and nominations’ Allen. The entertainment industry has a history of giving men a pass on abuse (John Lennon). Call it all out or none at all or you’ll forever get Chris Brown apologist that will say your picking on him. I do see what you are trying to do so in that effort keep it up please because its VERY necessary, that’s just my two cents. Thanks for reading.

That basically ensures no one can talk about any of it. Who can talk about “all of it” at all times? I can’t say Hitler sucks if I don’t mention that Stalin also sucked? (Yes I went there right away ;) )

Why don’t you let JC here write about what or whom he is passionate about, and endeavour to get the discussion about the things you feel are equally important started yourself. Seems more productive.